The Arabian Nights, Volume II of IV

by Unknown

After the various ceremonies of our nuptials are over, continued Alnaschar, I will take a purse from the hands of one of the attendants, containing five hundred pieces of gold, which I will give to the female attendants, that they may leave me alone with my spouse. As soon as they shall have retired, my wife shall go to bed first. I will immediately follow her, and will be the whole night with my back turned towards her, and will not utter a single syllable. The next morning she will not fail to complain to her mother, the lady of the grand vizier, of my pride and neglect; and this will very much delight me. Her mother will then come to see me, and out of respect take and kiss my hands, and say to me, “My lord,” for she will not dare to call me son-in-law, through fear of displeasing me, by speaking with so much familiarity, “I entreat you, my lord, not to despise my child in such a manner, nor keep her at such a distance; I assure you she will always endeavor to please you, and I know her whole heart is devoted to you.” Although my mother-in-law shall address me so respectfully and kindly, I will not answer her a word, but remain as grave and solemn as ever. She will then throw herself at my feet, and after kissing them many times, will say, “My lord, is it possible you suspect the prudence of my daughter; I assure you, I have never suffered her to go out of my sight; and you are the first man who has ever seen her face. Forbear to inflict so great a mortification upon her, and do her the favor to look at and speak to her; and thus strengthen her good intention of endeavoring to satisfy and please you in every thing.”

All this shall have no effect upon me; which my mother-in-law observing, she will then take a glass of wine, and putting it into my wife’s hand, will say, “Go, and present him this glass of wine yourself; he will not, perhaps, have the cruelty to refuse it from so beautiful a hand.” My wife will then take the glass, and stand up before me, trembling all the time. When she observes that I do not incline myself towards her, and that I persist in taking not the least notice of her, she will address me, with her eyes bathed in tears, in these words; “My heart, my dear soul, my amiable lord, I conjure you, by the favors which heaven has so plentifully bestowed upon you, to have the goodness to take this glass of wine from the hand of the humblest of your slaves.” I shall, however, take care neither to look at, nor speak to her. “My charming husband,” will she continue to say, redoubling her tears, and carrying the glass of wine close to my mouth, “I will not cease entreating you till I obtain the favor of your drinking it.” At last, tired and worn out with her solicitations and prayers, I will throw a most terrible glance at her, and will give her a good blow on her cheek, at the same time pushing her so violently from me with my foot, that she shall fall down at the bottom of the sofa.

My brother was so entirely absorbed in these chimerical visions, that he represented the action with his foot, as if it were a reality; and he unfortunately struck his basket of glass ware so violently, that he sent it from one end of his shop into the street, where it was all broken to pieces.

His neighbour, the tailor, who had heard the whole of his extravagant speech, burst out into a fit of laughter when he saw the basket overturned. “Oh, you cruel wretch!” said he to my brother, “ought you not expire with shame at ill-treating a young wife in such a manner, when she has given you no reason for complaint? You must be hard-hearted indeed to pay no attention to the tears, and be insensible to the charms, of so amiable a lady. If I were in the place of your father-in-law, the grand vizier, I would order you a hundred strokes with a leathern strap, and send you round the city, with the praise you so well merit.”

This most unfortunate accident brought my brother to his senses, and knowing that it was his own insupportable pride that had caused it, he beat his breast, tore his garments, and sobbed so violently and loud, that all the neighbourhood soon assembled; and the people who were going by to mid-day prayers, stopped to inquire the cause of all this bustle: and, as this happened to be on a Friday, there were more people than usual. Some pitied Alnaschar, others laughed at his folly. The vanity, however, which he had before possessed, was now entirely annihilated, as well as his property; and he continued weeping at his hard and cruel fate, when a lady of considerable consequence passed by, mounted on a mule very richly caparisoned. The state in which she saw my brother excited her compassion. She asked who he was, and the reason of his crying so violently. They only said, that he was a poor man who had laid out the little money he possessed in a basket of glass ware; and that the basket had fallen down, and all his glass was broken. The lady immediately turned to a eunuch who accompanied her, and ordered him to give my brother what money he had with him. The eunuch obeyed, and put a purse, containing five hundred pieces of gold, into my brother’s hand. Alnaschar was ready to expire with joy at sight of it. He bestowed a thousand blessings on the lady; and after shutting up his shop, where it was now useless for him to stay, he went home.

He made many serious reflections on the good fortune which had so unexpectedly happened to him; and while he was thus employed, he heard some person knock at his door. Before he opened it, he asked who was there; and perceiving it was a female voice, he opened it. “My son,” said she, addressing my brother, “I have a favor to request of you. It is now the time for prayers, and I wish to wash myself, in order to be fit to offer them. Suffer me I entreat you, to come into your house, and afford me a bason of water.” My brother looked at her, and saw she was rather advanced in years; and although he did not know her, he nevertheless acceded to what she wished. He gave her a vessel full of water, and then resumed his seat. He was again quite absorbed with his adventure; he took his gold and put it into a sort of long and narrow purse, adapted to the purpose of carrying it at his girdle. The old woman, in the mean time, said her prayers; and when she had finished, she approached my brother, and prostrated herself twice at his feet, so low, that her forehead touched the ground, as if she was praying to God; then getting up, she wished my brother all manner of prosperity, and thanked him for his kindness.

As she was but very meanly dressed, and humbled herself so much before him, he thought that she meant to ask charity, and he offered her, therefore, two pieces of gold. The old woman drew back with as much surprise as if my brother had done her an injury. “Good God,” cried she, “what do you mean by this? Is it possible, sir, that you can take me for one of those poor wretches who make a practice of impudently going into people’s houses and demanding charity? Put back your money, for I have no necessity for it, God be praised. I belong to a young lady in this city of most incomparable beauty, and so rich, that she does not let me want for any thing.”

My brother was not cunning enough to perceive the address of the old woman, who refused the two pieces of gold only to dupe him the more. He asked her, if she could not procure him the honor of seeing this lady. “Certainly,” answered she, “and you may even easily be able to marry her; and, in becoming master of her person, you will get possession of all her fortune: take your money and follow me. Delighted with having so unexpectedly received such a large sum of money, and of finding, almost immediately after, a beautiful and rich wife, he lost all recollection of every thing else. He took the five hundred pieces of gold, and suffered the old woman to conduct him.

She went on before, and he followed her till they came to the door of a large house, at which she knocked. He came up to her just as a young female Greek slave opened the door. The old woman made him go in first; he passed through a well paved court, and she then introduced him into a hall, the furniture of which confirmed him in the high opinion he had conceived of the mistress of the house. While the old woman went to inform the young lady of his arrival, he sat down; and as it was rather warm, he took off his turban, and laid it by the side of him. The lady of the house immediately made her appearance, and he was much more struck with her beauty than with the magnificence and richness of her dress. He rose up the moment he perceived her. The lady requested him, with a pleasing air, to resume his place, and seated herself by his side. She expressed great joy at seeing him: and, after some kind compliments, she said to him, “We are not here sufficiently at our ease; come, give me your hand.” At the same instant holding out her own, she led him to a distant apartment, where they remained some time in conversation; she then left him with a promise of returning in a few moments. He waited some time, when, instead of the lady, a large black slave entered, with a scimitar in his hand, and casting a most terrible look at my brother, “What business have you here?” he cried, in a haughty tone. At this sight, Alnaschar was seized with so violent a fright, he could not make any answer. The black immediately stripped him, took away his gold, and wounded him with his scimitar in several parts of his flesh. The poor unfortunate man fell down on the ground, where he remained without motion, though he did not lose his senses. The black slave, thinking he had killed him, asked for some salt, of which the Greek slave brought him a large dish. They then rubbed it over my brother’s wounds, and although the pain he felt was almost intolerable, he had the presence of mind to show no signs of life. The black slave and the young Greek now went away, and the old woman, who had caught my brother in this snare, came and took him by the legs and drew him towards a trap-door, which she opened. She then threw him in, and he perceived that he was in a subterraneous place, in which there were the bodies of different people who had been murdered. It was some time, however, before he knew this, as the violence of the fall had stunned him, and took away his senses. The salt with which his wounds had been rubbed, was what preserved his life; he soon after felt himself sufficiently strong to sit up; and at the end of two days he opened the trap-door in the night, and observing a place in a court, in which he could conceal himself, he remained there till day-break. He then saw the detestable old woman come out; she opened the street-door, and went in search of more prey. As soon as she was gone too far to observe him, he let himself out of this cut-throat house and fled to mine. He then informed me of the numerous adventures he had encountered in so short a space of time.

At the end of a month he was quite cured of his wounds, by means of the infallible remedies I made him apply. He then resolved to revenge himself on the old woman who had so cruelly deceived him. For this purpose, he took a purse large enough to hold five hundred pieces of money, but instead of gold, he filled it with bits of glass.